Vendredi V - Blame Canada Edition

I was grocery shopping last night, and as I got to the produce section, the familiar strains of one Ms. Twain greeted my ears. I concentrated heavily on the bell peppers and tried to drown out the pride of Timmins, Ontario by calculating just how much pepper I was getting for my penny.

Then, over in the canned vegetables, tortured violins and a plaintive melody heralded the arrival of none other than Celine Dion. And I wondered whether CanCon rules stretched this far, cuz that's a lot of Canadian divas in a short period of time.

Which got me thinking: there are definitely some things from back home for which I am not heartsick. So I give you:

Top 5 Things I Do Not Miss About Canada:

1. The weather. This has to be said, although I do try not to rub it in too much, for fear of someone in Bali reading this and giving me my comeuppance. Even though we live in the "Icebox of the Nation," it's been (relatively speaking, of course) downright balmy this winter.

2. An anemic left wing. Dion who? It's been pretty exciting watching the showdown between Obama and Clinton - if I'm excited, how much more so are the people who can actually vote in this contest? No Liberal or NDP leadership race that I can remember ever received the equivalent attention. And without attention-getters at its helm, the left wing in Canada will remain doomed to its current position: silent observers (along with most of the rest of Canada) of Stephen.

3. The roads. Freeways are awesome. And people (gasp!) actually let you in when you indicate that you would like to merge.

4. GST. Theoretically, the GST made sense. Practically, it made no noticeable difference in the lives of most Canadians, other than to reduce their already-meager after-tax buying power. I'm all for paying for government services, but one expects some level of service for one's 7%-then-6%-then-5% or wherever the darn tax is by now.

5. Book prices. Oh yeah. I don't have to look at the back of a book anymore, notice the 20% difference between the Canadian and US prices, sigh, and reach for my mouse to click over to amazon.com.